Community, Conversation, and the Ann Arbor Local News Quandary

Why do we need a local news source? In the past there were practical reasons for picking up the newspaper. Schedules for movies and sport events. Job postings and other classified ads. Reminders for when City Hall would be closed for a part holiday. Information about upcoming elections or new ordinances that affected daily life. Most of these have been replaced by simple Internet searches or subscriptions. (If you haven’t yet signed up for notices from the city, click on this List of Ann Arbor City Noticesand choose the items that interest you. At least go for the newsletters.)

But there is another, less tangible but perhaps more important reason to read local news. It is to build a sense of community. We are a social species. We need to know what others in our immediate circle are doing. If we are to feel that we are part of our city, our neighborhood, or our county, we need news, even if it is of activities that we ourselves will never participate in. (Or maybe it will open up new possibilities.) Also, if we are to be meaningful participants in the circle of life around us, we need information. Otherwise, we are in danger of being isolated within a tiny group of immediate friends and family, adrift in an increasingly worrisome world.

Oh, we used to complain about the Ann Arbor News, back in the days that it was a real printed newspaper. It arrived on our doorstep seven days a week and got at least a glance over the main stories and the other parts that were of interest (sports, restaurant reviews, comics, whatever). It could be irritating in many ways, including the political stance. (The endorsements were reliably Republican.) Some called it The Snooze and there were parody versions “Not The Ann Arbor News“. But just about everyone read it and we all knew what we knew. Then it fell apart. Read the Michigan Daily’s astute recounting of this history, The Twilight of Newspapers in Ann Arbor. Today’s online “Ann Arbor News”, a branch of the media company MLive, has more news from elsewhere than Ann Arbor, and often the reporting is limited to court cases, highway accidents, sports, and business openings. They are now limited to two print issues per week (Thursday and Sunday) and subscription drives are sounding more and more desperate. A recent email promises “Convenient Print Home Delivery PLUS Unlimited Digital Access!” for 99¢ a week, limited time. Unlimited digital access? This is not a publication that can retreat behind a paywall.

What To Do?

Now keeping up with the Ann Arbor community takes more effort. We made some suggestions last year in Seeking the News About Ann Arbor andGoing to the Source for News of Ann Arbor. It takes effort and paying attention. Sources are scattered and not always very efficient. (Social media, for example, contain everything from puppy pictures to valuable notices of events.) There are a number of individuals and organizations who do publish news items, but usually on a one-at-a-time basis and just clicking on all those bookmarks could take all day. Many offer free subscriptions but that can also fill up your mailbox with more than is easily handled in the daily rush. (Highly recommended: Mary Morgan’s CivCity newsletter. Aimed at increasing civic participation and loaded with links and events. She does all the work of tracking down agenda items that you wanted to know about.)

Now there is an adventurous effort to fill in the gaps. The Ann Magazine began as a monthly print publication inserted into other local print newspapers. It is now being produced in print on a quarterly basis and is assuming more of an online character. They’ve introduced a new idea. Explained in Welcome to ANNthology, it is a curated compilation of articles from many independent sites, mostly Ann Arbor but also from other Washtenaw County communities. This comes to your mailbox five days a week – for free! Click here to go to the subscription form. As the invitation says, “Don’t be overwhelmed – be informed.”

Is this the only and best answer to our “Ann Arbor news desert” problem? No, but it is the best opportunity to have our community conversation that has come along for a while. Go ahead and subscribe. You’ll like it.

UPDATE: A bright spot on the Ann Arbor news scene has been added with occasional articles by Mary Morgan on Medium. Here is the most recent one. It is possible to sign in to Medium and receive many different types of news feeds and essays. It is also possible to follow Mary Morgan specifically. With this step, Mary essentially joins the ranks of serious Ann Arbor bloggers. A good addition to our possibilities.

4 Comments on “Community, Conversation, and the Ann Arbor Local News Quandary”

I think the Ann Arbor Observer deserved a mention, at least. I read it from cover to cover. Not only are there short snippets of newsworthy events, there are well-researched in-depth articles of broad interest. The monthly listing of events, day by day, is the best anywhere.

Limitations: news coverage is somewhat random, free-lance basis. The political reporter makes many errors, which I notice. The last issue had 3 errors in one notice about the upcoming elections! Those are only corrected by writing a letter, and then only in the “Letters” column. Also, most news articles only available a month after print publication. This makes a certain sense from the viewpoint of selling advertising in the print form, but doesn’t meet up with our current expectations of immediate online access.

BTW, I used to write for the Observer and still hold it in considerable affection.